UK Season Ticket Prices

[tjs10]

Random question, Why are English Rugby grounds so small?

Do you mean small in terms of footprint, or small capacity?

The simple answer to both though is that it depends on the club!

The older, rugby-only venues are generally owned by the clubs and have been so for many years. ie since that was the standard size for club grounds. A lot of them also used to have large standing terraces and/or cinder banks (so the capacity was larger than they are now that some of that area has been converted to seating). Those grounds are also usually also in built-up/established areas, and expansion is therefore restricted by surrounding buildings or streets. Redevelopment on a grand scale would not be financially viable so they just update what is already there in most cases.

Clubs that have moved out-of-town will generally have grounds with larger footprints and may share with other sports such as mid-tier soccer clubs or rugby league sides, but again the grounds are usually built to cater for the expected crowd, rather that over-sized to allow for big events.

There is usually more than one stadium in the same town or city, with each sport or soccer team having their own home ground, and bigger stadiums not too far away to cater for larger events, so not the same demand for out-sized capacities.


Venue, Location / Capacity / Rugby Club

Ashton Gate, Bristol / 27,000 / Bristol Rugby (also used by Bristol City FC)
Welford Road, Leicester / 25,849 / Leicester Tigers
Kingsholm, Gloucester / 16,115 /Gloucester
Sandy Park, Exeter / 15,600 / Exeter Chiefs
Franklin's Gardens, Northampton / 15,249 / Northampton Saints
Twickenham Stoop / 14,816 / Harlequins
Recreation Ground, Bath / 14,500 / Bath
AJ Bell Stadium, Salford / 12,000 / Sale Sharks (also used by Salford Red Devils RL)
StoneX Stadium, Barnet / 10,500 / Saracens
Kingston Park, Newcastle / 10,200 / Newcastle Falcons (also used by Newcastle Thunder RL)

[jargan83]

Yeah, I was question the capacity of some of the grounds given that 10k-ish isn't exactly huge. I had the thought that some of the sides would have outgrown their small grounds.

[Burgs]

I was surprised how Sixways was right out virtually in farmland.
Looking on Google Earth now, 16 years later, and there is starting to be developments around it.

[tjs10]

Yeah, I was question the capacity of some of the grounds given that 10k-ish isn't exactly huge. I had the thought that some of the sides would have outgrown their small grounds.

Sale & Newcastle aren't rugby heartlands (Sale is in the middle of soccer/league territory. Newcastle is soccer) so their capacities are more than sufficient. Plus, as both are the most northerly Prem clubs, the number of away fans making the trip up is lower than for other clubs.

Sarries do generally fill out (or close to fill) their current ground, but they struggled to draw a crowd when they were ground-sharing the 22,500 capacity Vicarage Road with Watford FC.


Most of the rest just live within their means.

To be honest, I enjoyed the atmosphere of being shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the crowd on matchdays back in the UK. It always seems so empty at HBF in comparison!

[Burgs]

To be honest, I enjoyed the atmosphere of being shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the crowd on matchdays back in the UK. It always seems so empty at HBF in comparison!

Last night found on Stan a "Throwbacks" for the Force.
Apart from being great to watch some memorable wins, it did have me wondering where all those fans are now.
Do they still watch from home/pubs?
Have they left and not been replaced by new people coming into WA?
Or just no longer engaged and lost to Rugby, or just Rugby at SR level?
Even half of the Subi crowds would make for a good turn out at HBF.
Apart from many other aspects, I reckon direct proximity to rail in locating a stadium has a major baring on attendance.

[shasta]

I was surprised how Sixways was right out virtually in farmland.

This is the model being followed for the Greater Western Rabble #2.

[Leo86]

Last night found on Stan a "Throwbacks" for the Force.
Apart from being great to watch some memorable wins, it did have me wondering where all those fans are now.
Do they still watch from home/pubs?
Have they left and not been replaced by new people coming into WA?
Or just no longer engaged and lost to Rugby, or just Rugby at SR level?
Even half of the Subi crowds would make for a good turn out at HBF.
Apart from many other aspects, I reckon direct proximity to rail pm locating a stadium has a major baring on attendance.

2017 did irreparable damage to not just thr Force but the sport. I know people who left the sport completely due to it.

I know others that used to travel from down south for the games. It's hard for some people to jump on the bandwagon for lack of better word and commit to a team where there is no permanency. An organisation where corruption, manipulation, deceit reign. The media are constantly banging on about Australia dropping back to 3 teams. Doesn't exactly instil confidence.

This being an AFL state, I wear a lot and of Force gear, I always get asked "didn't they get kicked out?", "Are they still around?"


There is also, the success. (Why 2017 really grates my gears, I reckon we were onto something). We need wins, we need to not be the bottom of the table.
The most I heard rugby being duscussed outside of Rugby fans was the start of this season. I made the joke, All this time looking at cutting under performing teams and the most interest has come from fall of the over dominating team. There was competition, the outcome unknown.

[GIGS20]

The thing that grinds my gears is, yes 2017 we'd finally built up enough momentum to be positive and we were killed off (it was likely the reason they wanted rid of us tbh)

This year the Rebels are in the same boat. Finally getting somewhere.

Yes it's with a team they can't afford, but since when has that ever stopped them?

[jargan83]

Last night found on Stan a "Throwbacks" for the Force.
Apart from being great to watch some memorable wins, it did have me wondering where all those fans are now.
Do they still watch from home/pubs?
Have they left and not been replaced by new people coming into WA?
Or just no longer engaged and lost to Rugby, or just Rugby at SR level?
Even half of the Subi crowds would make for a good turn out at HBF.
Apart from many other aspects, I reckon direct proximity to rail pm locating a stadium has a major baring on attendance.

I signed up as a foundation member in a group of 6 and I'm the last one standing from that group.

Anecdotally the perception of the side being losers doesn't help. I was speaking with a mate at work after the QLD game and his reaction was "shit, they actually won a game". This wasn't isolated incident either.

All the negative coverage of the game as a whole and poor performances across the board at Super Rugby level and National level probably doesn't help either.

[shasta]

The friends we sit with have been in for the long haul and follow NRL as well. We are obviously the exceptions. 23000 members playing out of Subi seems unbelievable now. IIRC the base prediction at the time of the bid was 5000 members to break even, so 23K was a pleasant surprise. It would be more than a little interesting to know the demographics of those 23K. Doubt many of them were rusted on AFL fans but have they drifted to AFL or are they mostly just watching RL nowdays? Both codes have had a long term advantage - plenty of FTA coverage. RL (including UK) also releases full match replays 24 hours after full time. That indicates to me that the NRL has control over it's content rather than the broadcaster.

In any event the remedies are simple really. 1). Real tangible backing from RA instead of roadblocks. 2). Winning consistently.

[Leo86]

I wonder if when the SA teams were removed from Super did that also cause a drop in viewers / members for the Force. It is possible some may of been members to watch there original home team? I remember seeing a lot of opposition colours for certain games but then back to Force at other games. It is an argument I have with NZ counterparts, going to the Force game isn't turning on your tram but supporting rugby and if wearing your saders/chiefs/etc shirt on those games so be it. Rugby wins

[bootsetal06]

My mind goes back to our first match after the axing …. Full house and the majority wearing some form of Force merch …..